Users of physical or virtual machines commonly install software packages, including package updates, to physical or virtual machines. The software packages can contain a set of related files chosen to perform a given application or task, such as, for example, a group of software applications, drivers, and/or other resources used to install and use messaging applications. In instances, a software package can contain application software, operating system software, drivers, patches, and/or other software components grouped as a logical set.
Software package update managers exist to help a user initiate and perform software package updates, such as, for example, the “yum” (Yellowdog update manager) package update manager available from Red Hat Inc., and others. In general, available software package managers are configured to interact with the set of installed packages on a client and with one or more software package repositories, to directly connect to those databases and download available package updates. Available package managers do not, however, permit the interaction of other software applications or processes with package update activity. A user who wishes, for instance, to view potential package updates by checking the available versions from current package repositories may be forced, for instance, to invoke a conventional package manager, perform a “scrape” of URLs (universal resource locators) or other identifiers, and invoke another program or tool to go to those locations to see what package files may apply to their machine. Because existing package update managers are not configured to permit inter-process communication with other applications, threads, or processes, direct sharing of package update sources and options may not be possible. It may be desirable to provide systems and methods for software package updates using communication pipes, to permit a user to invoke additional and more flexible applications, tools, and logic to manage the package update process, including to perform advanced testing and debugging of software packages.